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After almost seven years in exile in Belgium, Carles Puigdemont from the separatist Junts party wants to return to Spain. This is a risky move, as the separatist leader faces arrest if he enters the country. Puigdemont was elected regional president of Catalonia in 2016. He initiated a referendum and then proclaimed independence from Spain. He was later deposed by the Senate and then sentenced to many years in prison for “sedition”. At the time, he had avoided arrest by fleeing to Central Europe.
But Puigdemont’s return is calculated. It coincides with the day on which the socialist Salvador Illa is to be elected regional president in the regional parliament. With the votes of another separatist party called ERC. This is part of the political deal that saw the socialist Pedro Sánchez become Prime Minister again. In return, Sánchez promised amnesty for leaders of the separatist movement. However, a decision by the Supreme Court put a spanner in the works and dashed the hopes of Puigdemont and other supporters for impunity.
The exciting question now is: will Puigdemont be arrested? If so, the ERC could refrain from electing Illa. There is a lot at stake: Sánchez, who wants to end the era of separatist regional presidents in Catalonia by electing Illa, had garnished the deal with the promise to give the region the right to collect taxes independently. He is therefore prepared to relinquish the financial sovereignty of the central state. However, the controversial project could fail today, just like Illa.
No matter where you are watching the political spectacle from – I hope you get through the day safely!
As soon as the EU Commission’s report on the rule of law was published at the end of July, the first fake news stories started doing the rounds: Brussels rejected Italy’s constitutional reform, among other things. “The report revives all the fears that we have repeatedly expressed about the negative effects of the direct election of the head of government”, writes Dario Parrini, senator of the Partito Democratico, on his Facebook page, for example.
The constitutional reform, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s major project, is only lightly touched on in the Commission’s report: Some interest groups have expressed concerns about the proposed changes to the current system of institutional power-sharing, it says. Some doubt that these would lead to more stability.
It is also stated as a fact: With this reform, it would no longer be possible for the President of the Republic to form alternative majorities. He would also no longer be able to appoint experts as heads of government. This sums up in a nutshell what Meloni is all about: with the “mother of all reforms”, as she calls her plan, Italy’s prime ministers are to be elected directly by the people in the future. A first in the European Union.
In Italy, the two chambers of parliament are elected every five years at the latest. The President of the Republic then appoints a person of his choice to form the government and appoints the ministers in consultation with this person. The opposition sees the planned constitutional amendment as a definitive authoritarian turn – initiated by Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the right-wing nationalist Fratelli d’Italia, a successor organization to the MSI, in which the henchmen of dictator Mussolini were active after the Second World War.
The direct election of the head of government would severely restrict the power of the president – who is considered by many to be the guarantor of the constitution, a political anchor and a reliable figure. This may have something to do with the current incumbent: Sergio Mattarella has been steering every political chaos into reasonably orderly channels for nine years. Almost 60 percent of Italians trust Mattarella. Giorgia Meloni is in second place in the vote of confidence with 35%.
Some particularly controversial points from Meloni’s original text have already been removed, such as a majority bonus that would have automatically secured the winner at least 55% of the seats in both chambers of parliament. This figure at least is now off the table, but the possibility of run-off elections is now being discussed. A new feature of the current text is a limit of two terms in office.
The aim of Meloni’s reform is to make Italy’s governments more stable and stop the constant changes. And the most important thing: The person leading the government should have been clearly chosen by the people for precisely this task. These approaches are certainly justified. Meloni’s government is number 68 in the past 75 years. The average term of office for Italian governments is 18 months.
Meloni is also the first Italian head of government since Berlusconi to explicitly apply for – and win – the post of prime minister during the election campaign. Her predecessors Mario Monti, Enrico Letta, Matteo Renzi, Paolo Gentiloni, Giuseppe Conte and Mario Draghi all got the job without having applied to the people for this office beforehand.
In the event of a government crisis, the President would only be able to hand over the reins of government to someone else once per parliamentary term. This other person must be an elected member of parliament from the majority alliance of the originally elected prime minister. They must adhere to the prime minister’s program. This is where the question of practicality arises.
However, it is not certain whether the constitution will be amended at all. In June, the current draft passed the first hurdle and was approved by the Senate. A constitutional amendment must pass through each of the two chambers of parliament twice and ultimately be approved by a two-thirds majority. If these figures do not materialize – which is likely – the people will have to be asked. Such a referendum could be held in spring 2025, halfway through the current legislature.
A delicate point. Because approval for Meloni’s constitutional reform is not particularly high. In a survey conducted at the end of June, only 29% of respondents said they were in favor of electing the prime minister directly in the future. In 2016, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, then still the shining light of the Partito Democratico, fell over his plans to reform the constitution. He also wanted to strengthen the office of prime minister.
With a new electoral law, the party alliance that wins more than 40 percent in an election or a subsequent run-off election would automatically be awarded the majority of parliamentary seats, according to the plans of the left at the time. “Renzi wants to make himself a dictator inconspicuously“, said opponents of the plan at the time. The referendum failed and Renzi resigned. Meloni has already announced that he will not do so if her referendum also fails.
The European Union is facing an immense challenge: it must achieve its ambitious climate targets and at the same time strengthen the competitiveness of its industry and technologies. We can only achieve these goals with the massive use of green hydrogen. But the necessary framework conditions are still lacking.
Decisive political decisions are therefore needed now. For Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in particular, the right steps must be taken urgently to meet the high demand and ensure a sufficient and affordable supply of green hydrogen.
Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium together form an important economic region in the heart of Europe. It accounts for 30 percent of European industrial production and 40 percent of hydrogen consumption. Its industries such as steel, chemicals, process heat, electricity and transportation are expected to be the main consumers of green hydrogen.
With the North Sea as a center for green hydrogen production, a dense gas pipeline network and globally important ports, these countries are ideally positioned to become Europe’s import hub for green hydrogen. Despite these opportunities, the development of a market for liquid green hydrogen remains a major challenge.
To secure their position as an industrial center, technology leader and hotspot for green hydrogen, the three countries need a targeted action plan. The national hydrogen councils of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium therefore signed a declaration of intent in May 2024. They want to work closely together on common issues and thus advance the hydrogen economy in these countries.
What should the new EU Parliament and the Commission actually do?
Closing the cost gap: The results of the European Hydrogen Bank’s first auction show that it is unlikely that Europe’s most important financing program for hydrogen will support production facilities in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The cost gap between hydrogen production costs and the market price is too large.
A comprehensive pan-European hydrogen network must therefore be established to enable access to cheaper hydrogen from northern and southern Europe. At the same time, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium need a targeted plan for the transition to green hydrogen. The cost gap must be closed by reducing the initial production costs and providing targeted support for the consumer industries. For this, we need intelligent financing options.
Improving the regulatory framework: The European regulatory environment makes a rapid market ramp-up for hydrogen more difficult. Restrictive regulations such as the conditions for the production of green hydrogen limit possible solutions. Complex regulations for state aid, scattered financing mechanisms and a lack of uniform certification procedures for green hydrogen are hindering the rapid development of the hydrogen economy in this three-country region.
The regulatory framework must allow significantly more flexibility. This is the only way that Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands can play their part in ensuring that Europe becomes climate-neutral while maintaining the leading position of its industry.
Europe must do everything in its power to promote the introduction of green hydrogen. We need realistic scenarios for the regions that need it the most and help make the transition to clean hydrogen a success. Specific and flexible transitional arrangements for the promotion of clean hydrogen in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium are key to securing Europe’s industrial and technological leadership worldwide.
Now is the time to act!
Katherina Reiche is Chairwoman of the German government’s National Hydrogen Council (NWR).
Marcel Galjee is Chairman of NLHydrogen.
Tom Hautekiet is Chairman of the Belgian Hydrogen Council (BHC).
After almost seven years in exile in Belgium, Carles Puigdemont from the separatist Junts party wants to return to Spain. This is a risky move, as the separatist leader faces arrest if he enters the country. Puigdemont was elected regional president of Catalonia in 2016. He initiated a referendum and then proclaimed independence from Spain. He was later deposed by the Senate and then sentenced to many years in prison for “sedition”. At the time, he had avoided arrest by fleeing to Central Europe.
But Puigdemont’s return is calculated. It coincides with the day on which the socialist Salvador Illa is to be elected regional president in the regional parliament. With the votes of another separatist party called ERC. This is part of the political deal that saw the socialist Pedro Sánchez become Prime Minister again. In return, Sánchez promised amnesty for leaders of the separatist movement. However, a decision by the Supreme Court put a spanner in the works and dashed the hopes of Puigdemont and other supporters for impunity.
The exciting question now is: will Puigdemont be arrested? If so, the ERC could refrain from electing Illa. There is a lot at stake: Sánchez, who wants to end the era of separatist regional presidents in Catalonia by electing Illa, had garnished the deal with the promise to give the region the right to collect taxes independently. He is therefore prepared to relinquish the financial sovereignty of the central state. However, the controversial project could fail today, just like Illa.
No matter where you are watching the political spectacle from – I hope you get through the day safely!
As soon as the EU Commission’s report on the rule of law was published at the end of July, the first fake news stories started doing the rounds: Brussels rejected Italy’s constitutional reform, among other things. “The report revives all the fears that we have repeatedly expressed about the negative effects of the direct election of the head of government”, writes Dario Parrini, senator of the Partito Democratico, on his Facebook page, for example.
The constitutional reform, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s major project, is only lightly touched on in the Commission’s report: Some interest groups have expressed concerns about the proposed changes to the current system of institutional power-sharing, it says. Some doubt that these would lead to more stability.
It is also stated as a fact: With this reform, it would no longer be possible for the President of the Republic to form alternative majorities. He would also no longer be able to appoint experts as heads of government. This sums up in a nutshell what Meloni is all about: with the “mother of all reforms”, as she calls her plan, Italy’s prime ministers are to be elected directly by the people in the future. A first in the European Union.
In Italy, the two chambers of parliament are elected every five years at the latest. The President of the Republic then appoints a person of his choice to form the government and appoints the ministers in consultation with this person. The opposition sees the planned constitutional amendment as a definitive authoritarian turn – initiated by Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the right-wing nationalist Fratelli d’Italia, a successor organization to the MSI, in which the henchmen of dictator Mussolini were active after the Second World War.
The direct election of the head of government would severely restrict the power of the president – who is considered by many to be the guarantor of the constitution, a political anchor and a reliable figure. This may have something to do with the current incumbent: Sergio Mattarella has been steering every political chaos into reasonably orderly channels for nine years. Almost 60 percent of Italians trust Mattarella. Giorgia Meloni is in second place in the vote of confidence with 35%.
Some particularly controversial points from Meloni’s original text have already been removed, such as a majority bonus that would have automatically secured the winner at least 55% of the seats in both chambers of parliament. This figure at least is now off the table, but the possibility of run-off elections is now being discussed. A new feature of the current text is a limit of two terms in office.
The aim of Meloni’s reform is to make Italy’s governments more stable and stop the constant changes. And the most important thing: The person leading the government should have been clearly chosen by the people for precisely this task. These approaches are certainly justified. Meloni’s government is number 68 in the past 75 years. The average term of office for Italian governments is 18 months.
Meloni is also the first Italian head of government since Berlusconi to explicitly apply for – and win – the post of prime minister during the election campaign. Her predecessors Mario Monti, Enrico Letta, Matteo Renzi, Paolo Gentiloni, Giuseppe Conte and Mario Draghi all got the job without having applied to the people for this office beforehand.
In the event of a government crisis, the President would only be able to hand over the reins of government to someone else once per parliamentary term. This other person must be an elected member of parliament from the majority alliance of the originally elected prime minister. They must adhere to the prime minister’s program. This is where the question of practicality arises.
However, it is not certain whether the constitution will be amended at all. In June, the current draft passed the first hurdle and was approved by the Senate. A constitutional amendment must pass through each of the two chambers of parliament twice and ultimately be approved by a two-thirds majority. If these figures do not materialize – which is likely – the people will have to be asked. Such a referendum could be held in spring 2025, halfway through the current legislature.
A delicate point. Because approval for Meloni’s constitutional reform is not particularly high. In a survey conducted at the end of June, only 29% of respondents said they were in favor of electing the prime minister directly in the future. In 2016, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, then still the shining light of the Partito Democratico, fell over his plans to reform the constitution. He also wanted to strengthen the office of prime minister.
With a new electoral law, the party alliance that wins more than 40 percent in an election or a subsequent run-off election would automatically be awarded the majority of parliamentary seats, according to the plans of the left at the time. “Renzi wants to make himself a dictator inconspicuously“, said opponents of the plan at the time. The referendum failed and Renzi resigned. Meloni has already announced that he will not do so if her referendum also fails.
The European Union is facing an immense challenge: it must achieve its ambitious climate targets and at the same time strengthen the competitiveness of its industry and technologies. We can only achieve these goals with the massive use of green hydrogen. But the necessary framework conditions are still lacking.
Decisive political decisions are therefore needed now. For Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in particular, the right steps must be taken urgently to meet the high demand and ensure a sufficient and affordable supply of green hydrogen.
Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium together form an important economic region in the heart of Europe. It accounts for 30 percent of European industrial production and 40 percent of hydrogen consumption. Its industries such as steel, chemicals, process heat, electricity and transportation are expected to be the main consumers of green hydrogen.
With the North Sea as a center for green hydrogen production, a dense gas pipeline network and globally important ports, these countries are ideally positioned to become Europe’s import hub for green hydrogen. Despite these opportunities, the development of a market for liquid green hydrogen remains a major challenge.
To secure their position as an industrial center, technology leader and hotspot for green hydrogen, the three countries need a targeted action plan. The national hydrogen councils of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium therefore signed a declaration of intent in May 2024. They want to work closely together on common issues and thus advance the hydrogen economy in these countries.
What should the new EU Parliament and the Commission actually do?
Closing the cost gap: The results of the European Hydrogen Bank’s first auction show that it is unlikely that Europe’s most important financing program for hydrogen will support production facilities in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The cost gap between hydrogen production costs and the market price is too large.
A comprehensive pan-European hydrogen network must therefore be established to enable access to cheaper hydrogen from northern and southern Europe. At the same time, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium need a targeted plan for the transition to green hydrogen. The cost gap must be closed by reducing the initial production costs and providing targeted support for the consumer industries. For this, we need intelligent financing options.
Improving the regulatory framework: The European regulatory environment makes a rapid market ramp-up for hydrogen more difficult. Restrictive regulations such as the conditions for the production of green hydrogen limit possible solutions. Complex regulations for state aid, scattered financing mechanisms and a lack of uniform certification procedures for green hydrogen are hindering the rapid development of the hydrogen economy in this three-country region.
The regulatory framework must allow significantly more flexibility. This is the only way that Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands can play their part in ensuring that Europe becomes climate-neutral while maintaining the leading position of its industry.
Europe must do everything in its power to promote the introduction of green hydrogen. We need realistic scenarios for the regions that need it the most and help make the transition to clean hydrogen a success. Specific and flexible transitional arrangements for the promotion of clean hydrogen in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium are key to securing Europe’s industrial and technological leadership worldwide.
Now is the time to act!
Katherina Reiche is Chairwoman of the German government’s National Hydrogen Council (NWR).
Marcel Galjee is Chairman of NLHydrogen.
Tom Hautekiet is Chairman of the Belgian Hydrogen Council (BHC).